Charles smallwood



C. .SMALLWOOD.

- BIFURCATED NETHERGARMENT. KPPLICATION FILED APR. 22. I914.

1,195,618. I PatentedAug. 22,1916.

Jim/4i Jim/[M0001 Inventor Attorneys referring particularly to Fig. 1 there is pro-.

ornroa.

CHARLES SMALLWOOD, OF WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

BIFURCATED NETHERGARMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1916.

Application filed April 22, 1914. Serial N 0. 833,719.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES SMALLwooD, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVashington, in the county of Beaufort and State of North Carolina, have invented a new anduseful Bifurcated Nethergarment, of which the following is a specification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a bifurcated nether garment adapted primarily for male wear, and one object of the present invention is to provide a novel means whereby the garment may be contracted at and below the waist, it thus being possible to adapt a single garment to persons having difl erent circumferential measurements. Another object of the invention is to provide a garment having a plurality of lateral adjustments at'points between the top and the crotch.

It is within the scope of the invention to improve generally'and to enhance the utility of garments of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description pro ceeds the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can bemade within the scope of what is claimed W thout departing from the spirit of the lnventlon.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1.

is a perspective view showing a garment constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional detail illustrating a slight modification of the invention.

In carrying out the'present invention and vided a bifurcated nether garment 1 having a fly opening 2 defining closure members 3 and 4. Each closure member is provided with a plurality of connecting elements disposed in superposed rows extended laterally from the fly opening 2, all of the connecting elements lying in lines which converge toward the crotch 5 of the garment, any oneconnecting element in each row on one closure member being adapted for union with each connecting element in the corresponding row on the other closure member, thereby to secure at once, a multi-step contraction of the garment at the waist and to secure a multi-line union between the closure members longitudinally of the fly opening. The connecting elements on the,

be united upon opposite sides of the fly openmg 2 as the waist measure is reduced or iniv creased. j

In the modified form shown in Fig. 2, the

snap fasteners 16 connect them. introduced merely for the purpose of rendering it clear that the connecting elements may be of any desired form.

It is to be observed that the lower button hole 6 may be engaged with the lower button 7 and, after this connection is made, the intermediate button hole 6 may be engaged with either of the intermediate buttons 7. When the intermediate button hole 6 is engaged with either-of the intermediate buttons 7 any of the upper button holes 6 maybe engaged with any of the upper buttons 7. In this manner, a wide range .of adjustments may-be effected, it being possible to carryon one adjustment independently of the others.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is opening defining a pair of closure members;

one of said members having a lower buttonhole adjacent the lower end of said opening and the edge of said member, an intermediate buttonhole intermediate the ends of said opening and adjacent the edge of said member, "and a series of upper buttonholes adjacent the upper end of said opening, one of said series of buttonholes being arranged adjacent the edge of said member and said series of buttonholes extending away from said opening; a lower button carried by the other closure member adjacent the lower end of said opening and the edge of said member for engagement with the lower buttonhole to close the lower .end of said opening and contract the corresponding portion of the garment; a plurality of intermediate buttons carried by the second mentioned closure member intermediate theends of said opening and extend 10 I closure members are indicated at 15 and Fig. 2 is I intermediate buttons being engageable with v the intermediate but-tonhole for closing the intermediate portion of said opening and for adjusting the corresponding portion. of-

the garment; and a series of upper buttons carried by the second mentioned closure member and extending away from the edge thereof, the upper buttons being engageable with the upper buttonholes for adjusting the upper edge of the garment.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES SM Witnesses:

W. B. CooKE, M. S. JORDAN.

ALLWOQD. 

